Many Android and iPhone users have had the opportunity to install the Facebook Messenger application that provides a dedicated stand-alone chat/messaging interface for communication with their ‘friends’ via their mobile phones. This application is now available for Blackberry users too, when BIS is working that is *cough*.
This moves Facebook into competition with, well… everybody.
They eradicate the need for device-based messaging applications such as RIM’s Blackberry Messenger and Apple Inc’s recently release iMessage. With over 800 million users, you probably have more contact on Facebook than saved on your phone.
They also go head-to-head with multi-platform messaging apps like Kik, WhatsApp and several others, once again benefiting from the massive personal networks each user has access to.
They even continue the push away from the outdated technology of SMS that Mobile Operators were enjoying the profit margins of for far too long.
There will, of course, be many who do not want to be ‘online’ all day, or others who are more lenient with accepting ‘friends’ on Facebook than handing out their number.
To get Facebook’s Messenger on your phone direct your mobile browser to: fb.me/msgr
As managing director of this small creative consultancy I am almost always online for my clients and find myself on Kik, WhatsApp, BBM, iMessage, Skype and now Facebook Chat almost 24/7.
What do you use for mobile communication these days?